The influence of shallow core levels on the shape of REELS spectra

It is well established that the shape of spectra acquired using reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) is determined by the dielectric function. Extracting the dielectric function from REELS spectra is a real challenge as it is governed by strong multiple scattering. It is generally assumed that the contribution of shallow core levels (with binding energies over 100 eV) to the REELS data can be neglected when one interprets valence band REELS data that usually extends to, at most, 100 eV energy loss. Here we show that, especially when incoming energies over 1 keV are used, this is not the case and that the intensity of the REELS spectrum can only be calculated correctly if the shallow core levels are taken into account. The implications for this for the extraction of the dielectric function from REELS data is discussed.